Goin’ Down
Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon, AZ
Because we thought it would be fun, just once, to see the Canyon looking up instead of down or across, we descended down the Bright Angel Trail, the most popular of four main day hikes from the South Rim—as far as our kids would allow us. The trail originated in the late 19th Century for mining prospectors. For hardcore outdoors folk, a round-trip excursion on the whole of the path, which descends 4,400 feet to a point overlooking the Colorado River, takes 19 miles, two days, a backcountry permit—and lots of water.